1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for spraying a material and, in particular, to an apparatus for spraying spacer material for preparing a liquid crystal cell such as a ferroelectric liquid crystal cell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, processes for spraying spacer material for a ferroelectric liquid crystal devices have sprayed a dispersant having the spacer material dispersed therein into the air by means of a sprayer or the like. The sprayed dispersant was then allowed to evaporate so that particles of the spacer material could fall naturally under their own weight to a substrate and deposit themselves thereon.
However, these methods require a long time for the spacer material to fall onto the substrate and a long time is required for the spraying process. In the case of spraying spacers for use with a ferroelectric liquid crystal, in particular, since the particles making up the spacer material are very small, an extremely long period of time is required. For instance, in the case of fine spherical particles of SiO.sub.2 (specific gravity: 2.55, diameter: 1 .mu.m) their speed of descent when they fall naturally in the air is approximately 8.times.10.sup.-3 cm/s (as calculated from Stoke's law), and the time required for the particles to fall 50 cm is approximately 100 minutes.